It was wonderful to host our brothers and sisters from Ukraine this month! They are the staff of Alpha Life, which is an orphan graduate transition ministry in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Viktor, Zhenya and Andrew were all able to come, and Andrew was able to bring his wife, Anna, too! At the end of our weekend services on February 7 and 8, we introduced them to the church. Check out the video of that introduction.

Why is the Outreach blog posting about financial freedom? Because God calls us to be wise stewards of the money He has given us so we can use it to help share His love through generous giving! Giving to help local ministries where we live. Giving to help share the Gospel around the world. And giving towards orphan care to help build strong families for vulnerable children.

That’s why we’re excited to see EconoMe, LifePoint Church’s financial ministry, host Dave Ramsey’s video-based class called Financial Peace University! Its wildly popular because of the amazing help it has given to countless people. So if you’re ready to learn how to get financially free, please attend this class! You can register by clicking here. The class begins March 2: Mondays at 7pm.

Upheaval. Chaos. Fear. Survival. Words that describe life close to Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia over the past several months. Many of you have asked about our friends in Ukraine. “What about the orphan graduate ministry there? Are they okay? Are they in danger?” The good news is that the city of Dnipropetrovsk has not been the site of any military actions in all this. But if you think about it for a minute, we could use those same words to describe the lives of orphans as they “graduate” from their institutional homes. Upheaval. Chaos. Fear. Survival. Unfortunately, the word survival should be followed by a question mark. Many of them literally don’t survive. But there is good news on this front, too! More and more orphan graduates, young men and young women, are getting loving, personal help, guidance and training to help them navigate the extraordinary time of launching from institution to independence. And at the heart of everything the Alpha Life staff is doing is the love of Christ Jesus.

As you can see on the map, Dnipropetrovsk is not terribly far from the hot zones, but far enough to keep them out of the action. However, we can’t say they haven’t felt the impact. Many Ukrainians have fled their homes–some have been destroyed. Many have landed in Dnipropetrovsk looking for help. Our friends at Central Baptist Church of Dnipropetrovsk have been helping with food and warm clothing.

Along with our Ukrainian friends at Alpha and Omega and Central Baptist Church in Dnipropetrovsk, we began developing this vision in 2012. Then we launched the Alpha Life ministry in 2013. Now, a year and a half later, we’re seeing the second school year of ministry bring exciting opportunities and growth.

It started with one–Vadim. A wonderful young man who is now studying at a medical technical school. Many have followed Vadim!

Zhenya works with the young women through Alpha Life. She is currently teaching and mentoring 3 young women who have already graduated out of orphanages: Sonya, Nastya and Tanya. They are studying logistics, electrical engineering and management, respectively. And there are 4 more young women who have visited the ministry several times so far. Please pray for these young women that are still “getting to know” the ministry and Zhenya. Pray that they will feel the love of Christ and be drawn to the “family” at Alpha Life.

Here is Viktor (center), the administrator of Alpha Life, watching a video during a lesson he was teaching. Andrew says the boys look up to Viktor “like a father.”

Alpha Life takes its name in part from the key partner ministry–Alpha & Omega (AO). AO is a great ministry for young adults that is based in a facility that is for all intents and purposes a community center. They also hold church services there on Sunday afternoons. Depending on when you walk through the doors, you can find any number of things going on: ping-pong tournaments, life skills classes, Bible studies, music lessons and more!

Andrew Rubel, the newest Alpha Life team member

Four young men are regularly attending Alpha Life lessons as well as activities at AO. Paul, Ruslan, Vlad and Victor. They are all studying at the same college to be electricians. Three more guys have attended a few events at AO and seem to be interested in getting connected to Alpha Life. Several of the guys have also been to the services at Central Baptist Church of Dnipropetrovsk. Andrew has been building relationships with them and has even started teaching guitar to a couple of guys! Andrew is Zhenya’s male counterpart in Alpha Life. Andrew joined the staff at the end of the summer. It’s great to have him on board to help mentor the young men. Not only is Andrew a musician, but he’s also an athlete. He just finished a career on the Ukraine National Track and Field team! In one of his updates about the young men Andrew mentioned that he was encouraged to see “their hearts warming” to him and the Alpha Life staff.

We thank God for the reach Alpha Life is having already! In fact, Zhenya says they are working with 11 other orphans in 3 different orphanages who are set to graduate in 2015.

Please pray with us that God will continue to warm the hearts of these young men and women as Viktor, Zhenya and Andrew share with them the love of Jesus.

There’s a chill in the air. Maybe you’re like me–I love it when fall weather comes around. But that drop in temperature is not a fun thing for everyone. For people who don’t have a home, cold weather makes a hard situation even worse. Do you remember the interview with Casey McCormick we showed in church back in January? Casey decided to step out and “risk loving” homeless people right here where we live. She put her love for Jesus into action by loving others.

Its that time of year again. The Cold Weather Shelter in Westminster will be opening in November. Please take a minute to watch Casey’s interview where she describes how the shelter works and her experience there. Then email us at localoutreach@lifepointchurch.us to get involved. There are multiple ways to help. You can volunteer at the shelter for intake one evening, or you can prepare and serve a meal, or you can donate warm winter clothing.

Did you know that Ann Rae has a blog where she writes about her experiences in Ethiopia? We’re excited to see how God will use her in the community called Korah. She’s been there a couple of weeks now getting settled into her new normal. Check out her first post here (click here). We love her funny story about the shower!

Please remember to pray for Ann Rae and for all the people and teams we send out from LifePoint. Most of all, please pray for the people we work with in other countries and the people who hear the Gospel as a result of that work! You can learn more about them through our Facebook and this Global Partner page.

Just last year, I was living in Ethiopia and working through a ministry located in Addis Ababa. We were working mainly in a village called Korah, which surrounds the city trash dump. Korah means “cursed,” and the village started generations ago when people from all over Ethiopia and surrounding countries were looking to get treatment for their leprosy. However, when they reached the capital city of Addis Ababa, they were unwanted and outcasted for their leprosy and forced to live in Korah, where they dump their trash.

These people were left with no job and no way to provide for their families, no way to send their kids to school.

Our monthly Risk Love Project in August will be at First Fruits Farm! Many of you have been there, and you know how fun it can be–for all ages–and what a blessing it is to people in need around our region!

Join us on August 23, 8AM-1PM at First Fruits Farm in Freeland, MD. First Fruits Farm is 100% volunteer operated and donates 100% of the harvest to soup kitchens, homeless shelters and food banks in this region. All are welcome to participate! For more information contact Localoutreach@lifepointchurch.us

We’re in the middle of short term mission team season! Thank you to all of you have so generously donated to support team members as they travel to far away places to influence people to find and follow Jesus! Please remember to pray for our teams. This summer teams are going to Guatemala, Haiti, Ukraine and Kenya. And our HUGS Ministry is sending a team to Camp Barnabas, too!

If you didn’t receive any letters from team members but you would still like to support our short term teams, please click here to go to our church website donation page. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

The 2014 LifePoint Church Golf Tournament was a great success! Thanks to the many generous sponsors and golfers, we were able to raise a record amount of funds for medical missions. Close to nine thousand dollars will go to help Syrian refugees through medical care coordinated by a local church in the middle east. Praise the Lord for his generous blessings! And, as usual, its always great to play on the beautiful Links of Gettysburg!